The study says many IRA owners (63 percent) seek help from a financial advisor when creating such a strategy. “Our research consistently finds that IRA owners are good stewards of their money, building substantial financial assets,” said Sarah Holden, ICI’s senior director of retirement and investor research. “This study highlights the thoughtful and thorough approach that IRA-owning households take in preparing for their retirement. They are making informed decisions and are typically making retirement-related withdrawals.”

Among households with rollovers in their traditional IRAs, 85 percent indicated that they had rolled over the entire retirement plan balance in their most recent rollover;

With $5.7 trillion in assets, IRAs accounted for more than one-quarter of all U.S. retirement assets in the second quarter of 2013.

As for the use of retirement money, the study found that IRA withdrawals continued to be largely retirement-related and infrequent. More than three-quarters of the households that reported withdrawals also reported that someone in the household was retired.